Pony spikers corral Cowgirls

The Havre High volleyball team got a positive result last Thursday in Browning and coming into its matchup with Conrad over the weekend, the Blue Ponies were looking to build on that.

And even though things may not have come as easily as expected, the Ponies were able to do just that, beating Conrad in four sets by the scores of 25-22, 19-25, 25-21 and 25-19 Saturday at the HHS gymnasium. Havre is now 5-9 on the season and 1-3 in the Central A conference. The win was also the Ponies’ first of the season at home.

“It feels great,” HHS head coach Tameica Jarvis said. “We came out and played tough. We came back from being behind a lot and that’s what we are working for.”

The Ponies, who swept Conrad earlier in the season on the road, fell behind the Cowgirls early in the opening set, 12-3 and later 14-4. However, the Ponies rallied back and used a 5-0 run at one point, to tie the score at 17-17. The two teams were later tied 20-20, but a key point by Naomi Terry, sparked a 5-2 run, which gave HHS the win.

In the second game, the Ponies built an early lead and led 16-14 after a kill by Logan Huebsch. But a 6-0 run by Conrad gave it control of the set. The Cowgirls eventually went on to win 25-19 to even the match at one set apiece.

In the third set, Havre built an early 7-4 advantage and held it from start to finish to capture the set 25-21. The fourth set started out close, as Conrad led 10-6. Yet, the Ponies went on 12-4 run that was capped with a key kill by Ceyara Plante. After that, HHS cruised to the 25-19 win, which sealed the match in favor of the Ponies.

“We still need to be more consistent,” Jarvis said. “Conrad is better than when we played them, but we also need to be more consistent and cut down on the mistakes. But, we did have some younger players step up for us and that was good, we want everyone to have to fight and compete for their spot.”

Since it was homecoming, it was fitting that seniors led the way for the Ponies, thanks to 10 kills, eight digs and a block from Plante; 25 assists and four aces from Terry and five kills from Jacy McDonald. Huebsch had six kills and nine digs in the win. Andrea Russell led the way for the Cowgirls with 15 kills, three aces and a ridiculous 12 blocks.

Following the win, Havre will pay a visit to Choteau next Saturday. The Ponies will then host Livingston and Belgrade in back-to-back home matches Oct. 21- 22.

“I hope so,” Jarvis said when asked if she thought her team could go on a run at the end of the season. “We just have to get back to practice and working on hitting again and defense again and go from there.”